Sports talent has Casarrean blood. Gabriel Rosado and Rodrigo Roldán, ages 12 and 11, will compete in the Spanish Championship of Mini Basket Autonomous Teams, which will take place in San Fernando (Cádiz) from March 23 to 27.
Although they live in Cáceres, both have their entire paternal family in the town, and they themselves feel like they are from Casares. They have known each other since they were little, since their grandparents live in the same neighborhood, Las Eras, right across from each other. There they shared long periods of playing in the street from their first years of life. As time went by, their friendship strengthened because both of them became interested in practicing the same sport. Today basketball is his biggest hobby.
Gabriel (he is 1.71 meters tall) and Rodrigo (a few centimeters shorter) are part of the same team this season, the ‘Sportmaking’ of Cáceres, and whose coach is José Carlos Lucio Bustamante. Their intention was to be together doing what they like most. “They wanted to play together and that made them change teams, although a year before they had also met at San Antonio,” explain their parents, Noel Rosado and Jesús Roldán, who They have been neighbors until their youth.
Gabriel began playing basketball in 2019, encouraged by a coach friend of his neighbor who told him that he had an ideal height for this sport. Rodrigo did it a year later, motivated in large part by his father’s love of basketball since he was a child.
Both were chosen by the Extremadura Basketball Federation for a Technique program last October. During several games they had to demonstrate their ability in front of the basket. “Among just over a hundred children, a total of 12 were finally selected,” say their parents. Gabriel already knows what it’s like to go to a national championship. Last year he had the opportunity to be part of the tournament held in Tarragona and Salou. This year he will do it in the junior category. “In these championships there is a high level and you see the quality of all the players and it is a great experience because you share the hotel with all your teammates and other categories,” highlights Gabriel.
For Rodrigo it will be a new experience. Since they learned the news that they were part of the Extremadura Basketball Team, his friend has not stopped telling him numerous details about what the national matches are like. «I am very happy, I found out that I was selected one day when I was at a friend’s birthday and my mother came and told me ‘congratulations’, I told her what the reason was and right after my parents told me that I had been selected and I cried with joy,” he says, remembering the emotion he felt at that moment, which will be difficult to forget.
Effort and perseverance
Gabriel and Rodrigo know what effort and perseverance are. According to their calculations, they train almost 10 hours a week. They have even formed a group for the parties that they usually have, especially during vacation periods. In the Regular League his team is in second place, tied with first. When they return from the autonomous championship they will have to face a few more games. “We will have to wait for the classification to know if this season they are lucky enough to also attend the Spanish Club Championship,” their parents say.
Both have had a great season. Some achievements remain in his memory: for example, the 65 points that Gabriel scored in a match against Sagrado Corazón (they closed the score with 103 points), or the 23 points that Rodrigo managed to add in a single quarter in a game in Mérida.
In this National Championship they will have to face the communities of Valencia, Madrid and Melilla. “Extremadura always has strong rivals, because last year the championship was won by Valencia and Madrid came fourth, Extremadura stayed in 14th place,” his parents indicate. Even so, they maintain their enthusiasm and positivity at the highest level. They know that even if they have only been training with the Extremadura team for three weeks, they can have a good tournament.
With the naturalness that characterizes them, Gabriel and Rodrigo know that they have to fight and go for it. “This year I’m more relaxed because I already know the national smell,” highlights Gabriel. For his part, Rodrigo makes assumptions about him. “If we have beaten teams like Castilla La Mancha and Castilla León in the preparation matches, why aren’t we going to beat Madrid or Valencia?” He asks. They form a perfect tandem on the court and wear the Extremaduran shirt with great pride. “Look, in this kit everything that is typical of Extremadura is represented, here on the side of the leg is also the Torta del Casar,” they say with great enthusiasm.
Infected hobby
As descendants of Casares and basketball lovers, they miss that there is little interest in this sport in the town. “If children don’t see others play, it doesn’t make them interested in this sport,” they say. His parents were part of the first basketball team that emerged in Casar de Cáceres in the early 90s, ‘La casareña’, which they remember Carlos Ronco coached. Jesús has never stopped playing basketball, in fact, today he is part of the same team as his son. “It is a shame that there is not more love for this sport in the town, a great idea would be to bring tournaments to promote it as happens in other neighboring towns, where people come from different parts of Spain and even from Ibiza,” they detail. .
Whatever happens at the national meeting, they assure that they will greatly enjoy the experience. Furthermore, both of them are very clear that they will continue to be linked to basketball. “We like it because there is a lot of sportsmanship, respect, the kindness of the players from the great teams and the friendships we make that are the best of all,” they say.
Now, fate or mere chance has allowed Gabriel and Rodrigo to live this sporting experience together. For them, this new challenge begins this Friday, the day they head to San Fernando to face high-level national basketball players.
2024-03-21 08:32:52
#Gabriel #Rosado #Rodrigo #Roldán #promising #basketball #players #Casara #blood #compete #Cádiz #National #Championship
